Division III delegates approved multiple proposals at their business session Friday at the NCAA Convention.
Key legislative proposals included establishing a Division III championship for women's wrestling, redefining how a season of eligibility is used, permitting multiple automatic qualifiers for conferences, and requiring mandatory use of the NCAA Transfer Portal.
Delegates additionally approved National Collegiate Championships in both stunt and acrobatics and tumbling. Both inaugural championships will be held in spring 2027. Delegates also approved women's flag football as an emerging sport with an immediate effective date.
A list of the proposals is available here.
Division III Women's Wrestling Championships
The division established the Division III Women's Wrestling Championships starting in the 2027-28 academic year.
Currently, 55 Division III schools sponsor women's wrestling, accounting for more than half of the schools sponsoring the sport. A separate championship will provide an avenue for Division III student-athletes to compete against similarly situated programs.
Season of eligibility
Delegates defeated a proposal that would have changed how a season of eligibility is used.
Multiple conference automatic qualifiers
Delegates also defeated a formula to provide multiple automatic qualifiers to multisport conferences that have 12 or more core members that sponsor a sport.
Transfer Portal
Delegates approved a proposal to require the mandatory use of the NCAA Transfer Portal for Division III for NCAA four-year college transfer student-athletes. Specifically, they approved the following:
- Replace the current "permission to contact" legislation related to NCAA four-year college transfer student-athletes with a "notification of transfer" model.
- Specify that a student-athlete must successfully complete an educational module before being entered into the NCAA Transfer Portal.
- Specify that a school must place a student-athlete's written request for transfer into the NCAA Transfer Portal within seven consecutive calendar days of the student-athlete completing the educational module.
- Maintain the existing processes for Division III self-release for student-athletes interested in transferring to another Division III school.
